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| Photos by Aihua Gao on a square in Dalian, China |
People gather in the square
To kick a soccer ball around
Ride bicycles with training wheels
Or just walk together again
This afternoon a blonde doll
In a blue satin dress and
A pink eared white bunny
On all fours sit on a wooden
Park bench ready to eat
The little girl with a pink hat
And blue surgical mask serves
Them slices of plastic pizza
Using a blue plastic shovel
To dish the yellow wedges
The doll falls ill at dinner
The girl places a packet of
Soft cotton cleansing wipes
As a pillow on the red scooter
Rolling as an ambulance
The girl in the pink hat gives
The doll mouth to mouth
While wearing the mask
The bunny at the bench
Doesn’t want to eat anymore
Twitches its nose at the small
Boy sporting a black woolen
Ball cap and smaller blue mask
He tries to get the stuffed bunny
To chew on some faux bread
Meanwhile the doll rests
Eyes closed, her blue shoes
Tethered by a red ribbon
To her wrist dangle under
This nearby hospital bench
The boy comes to visit
Offers dolly a few pine nuts
As medicine for the virus
In what they have named
Wuhan Children’s Hospital
Don Kingfisher Campbell, MFA from Antioch University L.A., has taught at Occidental College Upward Bound for 35 years, been poetry editor of the Angel City Review, publisher of Spectrum magazine, and host of the Saturday Afternoon Poetry reading and workshop series in Pasadena, California.